One of the UFC's biggest events of the year takes place Saturday night, featuring a pair of high profile title fights. In the main event, all time great Anderson Silva seeks to avenge the only loss of his UFC career and regain the UFC middleweight championship against undefeated champion Chris Weidman. Weidman knocked out Silva in July when Silva was showboating, leading to much discussion as to whether the fight result was more about Weidman or Silva.
In the co-feature, Ronda Rousey defends her UFC women's bantamweight title against rival Miesha Tate. Rousey and Tate have a longstanding mutual dislike, showcased on the most recent season of the UFC's Ultimate Fighter reality show. Rousey rode a wave of positive media coverage to stardom, but has run into something of a backlash recently as fans have gotten to know her better. The deep card also includes an intriguing heavyweight contest pitting veteran Josh Barnett against rising star Travis Browne. The winner will be a top challenger for the UFC heavyweight title.
Estevan Payan vs. Robert Peralta
Payan is an Army veteran looking for his first UFC win. Peralta is 2-1 (1 NC) in the UFC and has finishes in 14 of his 16 wins.
Round 1. Peralta lands a few hooks at the onset of the fight and takes Payan down. Peralta lands some punches from the top, but halfway through the round Payan uses a nice sweep to take side control top position. Payan goes to work with punches for most of the rest of the round. Peralta gets up at the end. Very even round. 10-9 Payan.
Round 2. Peralta lands a couple punches early. Payan hits Peralta with a nice leg kick. Peralta answers with some leg kicks of his own. Payan gets a takedown halfway through the round and gets side control just like in the first. Peralta gets up but eats a couple power punches for his effort. Peralta looks to take Payan down. They grapple for position against the cage. 10-9 Payan.
Round 3. Peralta stuns Payan with looping punches at the very start of the round. He follows with more punches and drops Payan. Peralta continues to land blows on the ground and the referee stops the contest. Peralta needed a big third round and he got it.
Winner: Robert Peralta, TKO, round 3. William Macario vs. Bobby Voelker
Macario is a 22 year old Brazilian who excelled on the second season of the Brazilian Ultimate Fighter and is thought to have a lot of potential in the sport. However, he suffered a setback and lost via submission in his UFC debut. Voelker has a 24-10 record with few notable wins, but did win his trilogy of fights with Roger Bowling on Strikeforce's Challengers series.
Follow on Twitter at @ToddMartinMMA. ALSO: Ronda Rousey not leaving UFC until her legacy is set Anderson Silva is slight favorite in rematch with Chris Weidman Former champion Anderson Silva says no joking in UFC 168 rematch
Posted by Unknown on Saturday, December 28, 2013 - Rating: 4.5
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